Have you ever commented on a blog post and wondered why all the other people have a nice little photo of them beside their comments and yours is just a blank silhouette?
As part of promoting your home staging business online in social media, you’ll want to have an image (or photo of you) that you use consistently from site to site.
Most of us are comfortable with how this works on Facebook, since one of the first things you do when you open your account is upload your photo. Then it conveniently follows you around inside of Facebook while you comment on other people’s walls, send message, etc.
If you’ve set yourself up on Twitter to promote your home staging business, you’ve probably already uploaded a photo of yourself there too.
But what happens when you comment on blogs like this one? Does a faceless silhouette accompany your post? Wouldn’t it be much more effective for a photo of you to show up automatically, no matter what blog you commented on?
You can do this easily and automatically and for FREE by setting yourself up on Gravatar.com. It’s really simple and if you already have a head shot that you’ve used on Facebook, Twitter or your website, you can use it here too! Here’s a short video about how it works:
By the way, if you want tips for getting a great head shot of yourself, you’ll find that and more inside the Staging Diva Ultimate Portfolio Guide.
Some people like to use their logo as their image on Twitter or a business page in Facebook. I’ve also seen them used on blog comments instead of a personal head shot. What are your opinions on this?
Hmmm? That’s a really good question to ponder Debra. I had a real estate agent tell me that I should have my gravatar picture on my business card because I had a “welcoming and friendly” smile and he said that was important for clients to see because it would make them feel comfortable (nice compliment!) However, I had a professional design my logo and it is very elegant and professional looking and I’ve had another agent tell me that he was going to call me because he liked my logo! Now what?! Locally, where I do business, I think it’s important that people see my logo (branding) In the “web” world, I have my “gravatar”. That being said, I do consciously think about my personal appearance when I go out and how that is perceived by potential clients; if I’m wearing sweats, my hubbies baggy t-shirt and I look like I just got out of bed, I don’t think that’s a great impression to make in this business!
Jackie, Thanks for sharing your comments.
I’m not surprised an agent would tell you to put your head shot on your card, that’s the prevailing practice with agents. However, they don’t have the need to also build awareness for their company name/brand, as you do. I believe home stagers should invest in a professional logo and promote that on their cards, in their website, etc.
You make a great point about personal appearance when you go out as well.
I just got my Gravatar.
Thank you so much Debra! You are the BEST!
Looks great Tracey, glad I could help!!
I would rather see a person’s face. It’s nice to see who you’ll be meeting…and it gives you a feel for who they are!
Branding is important, but it’s over-rated! The more you get your name out there and let people feel that they “know” you, the more they will like, know and trust you.
Thanks for the info again on Gravatar – I did it once, but it never seems to show up. I’ll try it again and see if it “follows” me!
Thanks!
Debbie Fiskum, Perfect Transformations Home Staging in Denver
Debbie,
I agree it’s key for people to see your face as it’s an important first step so they can get to know, like and trust you (which is the natural — and necessary) progression before they ever decide to hire you. But I don’t agree that branding is “over-rated.”
Gravatar should work for you as long as you make sure that the email address you use to set up your account is the one you type in when you’re actually commenting on a blog. I’ve noticed that sometimes people use one email to set up the account, then use a different one when posting so there’s no way for their image to follow them.
I just went to Gravatar.com and hope it worked…thanks again!
Excellent, glad I could help. Thanks for visiting and sharing your comments on Home Staging Business Report!
Can you see me? Would it make you feel more relaxed if you could see me, is it sending a negative if there is no image of me? Decide for yourself, what do you think?
Janine, if you’re trying to establish yourself online, then it is important to have an image. Once you take the advice in this article, your photo will show up next to all your blog comments. Even ones that you’ve made already, as long as you use the same email address to set up your Gravatar account as the email you’ve been using when you submit your blog comments. Your email remains private of course, it’s just that this is what’s used to identify you online.
thanks for the advice. I am looking at setting up my Gravatar account, I just have a question, when it asks me to first select a username, am I right in thinking this is the name that appears next to the image in the blog. ie if use username janinebaird, will it appear next to my name, just as yours does? However I do notice that paoples names have spaces and Higher case initials ie Janine Baird, or am I wrong?
Regards Janine
Janine, Great question. You can set your user name as whatever you like as long as it’s available.
Go through the sign up process, if you’re trying something that’s not allowed, they’ll tell you what’s wrong during the process so you can fix it on the spot.
It’s really that easy, just jump in!
I just got my gravitar and thought I would try it out. Hope it works. 🙂
Yup, it worked! Notice all previous comments you’ve made on my blog also show your headshot now. Well done, Trish!
I think I got it all set. This was news to me, so thanks so much for bringing it to our attention.
Well clearly it worked for you Beth, glad I could help and great to see your photo beside your comment!
Debra,
This info about gravitar is fabulous. You consistently share info we didn’t know we needed and yet makes the world of difference! Always nice to have a face with a name. Thx Lori
Glad I could introduce you to this easy tool Lori. The trick is to use the same email address when commenting that’s hooked up to your Gravatar account.
Debra,
Thanks for gravitar info. It’s always nice to have a face with a name. With all the different apps etc out there it’s nice to know that you will always highlight just what we need…even if we didn’t know we needed it ! Great article
Thx Lori
I love seeing those faces with the names and I know everyone else does too. What’s really cool is it will even add it all over the Internet where you’ve already commented in the past.
So, Debra, what you counsel is always spot on, but another question…how often do you advise changing your headshot? I mean hairstyles, color changes make you look very different as does an aging face. I’ve written about the REA cards pictures you can’t match to the Realtor back at home after a networking event and I don’t want to be guilty of same, don’t you know!